Do you feel all the work, hiking and conditioning that you have done lately was critical to your success, or in anyway more than just 'nice' to have been in such shape, both mentally and physically?
It definitely was critical imho; we had several tough hikes leading up to getting the ram; we ended siwashing up on the mountain- fortunately for only 4.5 hours till we had enough light to get down (my guides were jealous of what I brought for a bivy! it was pretty chilly); very tough pack out (started at 5:00 AM, done at 11:00 PM); we had three days where we were stuck on a gravel bar due to smoke- I'll admit I was getting a wee bit nervous, but tried to stay positive.
It was a tough hunt mentally and physically; I was still humbled even though I was in pretty good shape- it would not have been good at all if I wasn't
